Thanksgiving 2014 ~A Brief Report

Our gathering was small again this year.

Daughter #1 is traveling to Tuscany with her hubby...

a very special Thanksgiving trip, indeed.

Daughter #2 is with her fiance in New Hampshire...

taking advantage of the New England snowfall to take engagement photos.

Another special Thanksgiving memory.

Here, at home our gather was small.

Hubby and I, with his mom and his sister.

I was up early to prepare the bird.

Everyone here agrees that their favorite dish is the stuffing.

I had plenty of bread to cut into cubes, as we had just had the French Toast lab in school...

the students don't use the crusts and I didn't want them to go to waste.

Along with the bread, there's lots of butter, onion, celery, sage, thyme, 

and freshly ground black pepper.

Some goes in the turkey,

the rest goes in the slow cooker.

It is Amy's (and one year, Nellie's) job to make the homemade Cranberry Sauce.

Love those colors.

I just love, love, love mashed potatoes.

And hubby loves paprika!

I changed the line-up this year.

I added green beans, and we love this recipe with bacon and garlic.

I subsituted baked Butternut Squash for the Candied Sweet Potatoes.

The sweet potato dish was a favorite of Grandpa Leo and my mother.

I had continued to make them after they were gone to honor their memory.

Hubby never ate them, but he does like the squash...so it was a good year to make the change.

Of course the Star of the Show is Mr. Tom Turkey, himself.

Golden brown and full of flavor.

Traditionally, it is a position of honor to carve the Thanksgiving Turkey. 

This task should be done by the oldest male in the household.

My hubby does a wonderful job and presents it beautifully on the serving platter.

Grandma baked the pumpkin pie,

Stacy prepared the salad.

It was a cozy gathering.

We have so much to be thankful for.

Faith, Family, Friends,

Health, Good Food, Warm Shelter,

Employment and Hobbies that we Enjoy.

I hope this finds you warm, full of turkey,

and enjoying relaxing time with family and friends.

Take care,

~Natalie

p.s. for those of you that wonder how our cats 

spent their Thanksgiving...